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Configure S/MIME with iOS / iPhone / iPad

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This document explains how to import, configure and use your personal authentication certificate / email certificate on iOS devices such as iPhone and iPad.

  • Import your certificate into iOS
  • Activate S/MIME for your email account
  • Activate signing and encryption

If you have already collected the certificate on your desktop or laptop, you must first export it from the original browser with which the certificate was collected to a PFX / P12 format. Make sure that you export the private key and include all certificates in the certificate path, if possible. You must also provide a strong password to protect the certificate file.

After the export, you can email the certificate file to your iOS device or transfer it in another way (e.g. copy or upload to a USB drive and then download it from the online storage).

Import your certificate into iPhone / iPad:

  1. Find and open the .p12 file that contains the certificate that you want to import.

    Tap the Install button to launch the Certificate Import Wizard.

  2. Wählen Sie Jetzt installieren und geben Sie das Kennwort ein, das Sie für das Zertifikat beim Export festgelegt haben.

  3. After your password is accepted, iOS automatically imports your certificate. You should see a confirmation dialog box similar to the one shown below.
  4. Tap Done to exit the wizard.

With this certificate you can now digitally sign and encrypt your emails and / or authenticate your identity. Next, you need to assign your certificate to your email account.

Activate S/MIME for your email account:

  1. Open the ios Settings and  subsequently Mail, contacts and calendar
  2. Öffnen Sie das E-Mail-Konto, das Ihrem Zertifikat entspricht, und öffnen Sie die erweiterten Einstellungen.Die Position der Zeile «Erweitert» kann zwischen den iOS-Versionen variieren.

  3. On the advanced settings, scroll down to S/MIME and turn it on ON . This displays the options Sign and Encrypting

Background information:

Signing will authenticate and confirm the integrity of your email, ensuring that the recipient knows that the email is from you, and notifying you when the email has been sent since you received it they sent was changed.

Encryption ensures the privacy of your emails by ensuring that only the recipient can decrypt and view the email content. In order to encrypt emails, the recipient's digital certificate must be installed on your device and its certificate must be assigned to the corresponding entry in your address book

Activate signature and encryption:

Note - If you activate the options for signing / encrypting here, the action will be applied to all outgoing emails of this account. Messages cannot be signed / encrypted per message.

How to digitally sign emails:

  1. Once S/MIME is enabled, tap Sign .

  2. Slide the Sign- switch to ON .
  3. Your certificate is probably already checked. If you have installed several certificates, select the corresponding one.

How to encrypt emails:

  1. Once S / MIME is enabled, tap Encrypt .

  2. Slide the Encrypt- switch to ON .
  3. Your certificate is probably already checked. If you have installed several certificates, select the corresponding one.

Please note: If encryption is activated, we recommend activating the signature so that new recipients receive your public key and send encrypted emails to you can.

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